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Serves 4–6

600 g (1¼ lb) small to medium-sized squid

1 medium onion, chopped

olive oil

150 g (5 oz) skinned, seeded, chopped tomato

1 large clove garlic, crushed, skinned, chopped

400 g (14 oz) Spanish or Italian rice, suitable for risotto

600 ml (1 pt) good fish stock*

salt, pepper

Prepare the squid as described earlier in this section, setting the ink sacs carefully aside in a basin with a little water. Chop the tentacles, cut the main part into four or more convenient size pieces.

Cook the onion in a little olive oil, slowly. When it is soft, add the tomato and cook to a thick purée. Add the squid pieces, the garlic and the rice, stirring them about in the oil for a minute or two.

Remove the pan from the heat, put a sieve over the top. Crush the ink sacs into their water, tip the whole thing into the sieve and, adding stock as you go, push through as much inkiness as you can manage. Put the pan back on the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered, or half-covered, until the liquid is absorbed. At this point, the top of the rice will be pocked with small craters. If the rice is still too firm, you will need to add extra stock or water. When it is just tender, jam the lid on the pan with a cloth, and leave for 5 minutes, over the lowest possible heat. The rice then steams to a melting tenderness. Season, if necessary.

Serve hot on its own, or with a bowl of garlic mayonnaise*.

CACCIUCCO ALLA LIVORNESE

Cacciucco is the fish stew of Leghorn and the coast thereabouts – the north of Italy’s west coast. It is black, black as Chinese ink, and the first time I encountered it only a well-drilled upbringing prevented me from asking for something else – and from missing one of the best experiences in European food. Family friends, the Gisalbertis, descended on Florence where I was a student. They took me to Viareggio for the day. At a small restaurant in a back street at lunchtime this strange dish appeared. Being poor I was excessively hungry, which no doubt helped my manners, but I dipped my spoon in carefully. Cacciucco turned out to be the best thing I had ever eaten. Afterwards we sat on a fallen pine tree on the beach to digest our food. We looked towards the thunderous Carrara mountains, white against purple grey, as Mario talked about the Etruscans and their strange, hidden gaiety. And about this soup.

Even if you are not in Italy, you can make this soup with a fair degree of success since its dominant notes are provided by cuttlefish and squid; small octopus if you can find one is also a good idea. Shellfish provide more sweetness and a pink contrast to the dark soup, with some firm white fish – monkfish, whiting, John Dory, red mullet or gurnard – for the cheaper bulk of the stew. As with so many fish stews and soups, aim to get the liquid part right first, properly flavoured, strained and the right consistency. In it you poach the fish. This is quite the opposite technique to a meat stew or soup.

And as with so many Mediterranean dishes, be prepared to reinforce our pallid northern tomatoes. Dried tomatoes do this very well as their flavour has a deeper subtlety than tomato purée or concentrate. In an emergency have recourse to a splash of vinegar and a couple of lumps of sugar, or even to Heinz tomato ketchup.

750 g (1½ lb) squid and cuttlefish

½–1 kg (1–2 lb) mixed lobster, langoustines, prawns, shrimps, mussels, as available

1½ kg (3 lb) mixed white fish – hake, John Dory, weever, whiting, monkfish, rascasse, gurnard, red mullet, as available

salt, pepper

olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

300 ml (10 fl oz) red wine

bouquet of 2 bay leaves, 4 sprigs thyme, 6 sprigs parsley

1 fresh hot chilli

3 cloves garlic, quartered

1 kg (2 lb) tomatoes, skinned, chopped

sugar, tomato concentrate or dried tomatoes

12–16 slices toasted or fried bread

NOTE Oily fish